


Observation

by TurntSNACO



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Arin notices stuff, M/M, Suicide mention, kind of a highschool AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-21 01:05:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3671778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TurntSNACO/pseuds/TurntSNACO
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arin prefers to observe. He doesn't make friends, he doesn't date, and he definitely doesn't talk to others.</p><p>Until he does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Observation

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't really polish this, it's 1 am, leave me alone. I may come back and polish this some day, but probably not. Enjoy!

Arin noticed things most other people didn’t. 

His family always told him it was a problem, and he needed to stop. They told him he needed to actually talk to people, actually make _friends._

But Arin much more preferred to watch and observe. People are very interesting, and you can learn so much about them if you watch and listen.

So what Arin didn’t have friends? Arin was perfectly content with just watching and learning, keeping an archive in his head of all the little things strangers do. People are so wrapped up with their own little things, they never bother to learn things from observing, they have to learn by asking the person. Arin considered that an unnecessary step. 

There were a few things that always stood out to Arin, little things in his archive about people. 

_Ethan in lunch (sits directly behind Arin) chews his food exactly 20 times for each bite, refuses to make eye contact when he eats. He chews 10 times on the left and 10 times of the right without fail. No one takes note._

_Samantha in science class (Two rows in front of Arin) taps her fingers against her desk when she’s nervous, making intricate patterns that no one notices. She smiles and bounces her right leg when she finds the correct answer to a question._

Noticing these types of things about people always caused many problems for Arin, especially when he asked his aunt if her girlfriend had broken up with her simply because she had been biting her cheek through the entirety of dinner, barely eating. A thing she does when she’s extremely angry or holding back words. Her girlfriend wasn’t too big of a jump, considering she’s all she talks about. As soon as Arin asked his aunt burst into tears. Arin was quickly grounded.

Arin never paid attention to a specific person, he tried his hardest to spend equal amounts of time observing people. But things can’t always stay the same.

A new exchange student had come in a few months ago, his name was Danny. He hadn’t stood out to Arin too much, Arin noticed a few basic things about him, but nothing new. The only thing that stood out to him was his too-large-too-frizzy hair, and the fact that he ran home every day, as soon as he got off the bus.

Arin couldn’t find out why he ran when he got off the bus, which frustrated him. He’s been observing things all his life, and he can’t find out why this one boy runs home every day? 

He spent a lot of time on Danny, observing him, trying to figure out _why_. Arins answer came on the 22nd of May, when Dan told his friend that his sister was depressed, and he ran home every day to make sure she hadn’t done anything bad.

The answer seemed obvious to Arin now, and he couldn’t believe it took him so long to find it out. Arin put this info into his brain, tucking it into a small imaginary space that he reserved for his observations. He was ready to move on now, and he could finally go on and find out more about other people.

But a few days later, something changed. And even a fool would notice.

Dan had stopped running. 

This came as a surprise to Arin, but he knew exactly what it meant. His sister was dead. Gone forever, like she was never here at all.

Dan slowly became more reserved, his smiles shined through less and less, and slowly, Dans friends disappeared. Dan was alone. The only thing that Dan did now was write in a small brown notebook, he was always writing. Arin hadn’t seen a time when he wasn’t. He had stopped doing his schoolwork, and only wrote. Wrote in that tiny notebook. 

This boy made Arin feel something he hadn’t ever felt before. Guilt. Sadness. Arin was a true neutral, never happy, never mad, never sad. But this boy made his heart ache and thump hard in his chest at the same time. Arin knew what was happening to him, he was an observer after all. Of course he noticed.

Dan, with the frizzy hair and the too-long-too-skinny arms made Arin do something he never did before.

“Hello.”

Arin said, sitting next to Dan on the bus. His voice was hoarse. Cracking more than it should, he only talked to him family at home, and that was only when necessary. Dan didn’t look up, or respond. He only continued to write in his notebook. Arin payed no mind.

“I know what happened.” 

Arin whispered. Dan stopped writing momentarily, before continuing again. Writing more furiously this time. 

“You don’t know me. But I know some stuff about you. I just wanted to say I’m sorry about what happened.” Arin said. He knew he was lacking sympathy in his voice, but it was the best he could do. 

Arin got up, and switched to the seat next to Dan, saying nothing else. Out of his peripheral vision, which he had mastered long ago, he noticed a hint of a smile. Arin tried to make a mental picture of his smile in his brain, tucking it in a new part that he now reserved and named ‘Dan.’

The next day Dan sat next to Arin. Neither of them said a word, Dan kept writing in his notebook. For once Arin didn’t try to look, or figure out what he was writing, he decided he’d let this be Dans and Dans alone. Arin had never done anything quite like it before. Arin noticed that his stomach had “butterflies” in them, he knew it was only getting worse. He could manage it though. 

Right?

Dan was getting more comfortable with Arin. On June 5th he showed Arin what he was writing in his notebook, which were little drawings and rambles. He was writing about his sister. What he missed of her, what he loved about her, what he hated, what she loved, what she hated, her friends, her story. Her life. Dan told Arin he didn’t ever wanna forget. Arin told him he never forgets anything. Dan laughed for the first time since he stopped running. Dan gave him his number.

When summer break rolled around Arin laid on the couch doing nothing like he did every summer. He stared at the ceiling, and waited. This was not abnormal to his mom.

What was abnormal to Arins mom was when she answered a call on the home phone from a boy named Dan asking for Arin. Her mouth was still open in shock when she gave the phone to him.

“Do you want to come over?” Dan asked, him failing to hide his giddiness.

Instead of a yes or no, Arin answered with a simple “Okay.”

Arin sat in silence while Dan played video games, watching how easily Dans thin fingers pressed the buttons. The silence wasn’t awkward or weird, in fact, it wasn’t that silent at all. Dan filled the silence with words, talking about his sister and of his own life. Dan didn’t mind that Arin didn’t respond, only nodding occasionally. Dan knew he was listening. Dan knew he observed.

After a while Dan shut down the console, sitting back down on the couch and sighing. Dan easily lacing his fingers with Arins. His hand easily molded with his, Arin felt like he found a part of himself. 

“Is this okay?” Dan asked nervously. 

Arin gave a soft “Yeah.” Closing his eyes. 

They sat in silence for a long time. 

“Arin, what kind of things have you noticed about me?” Dan asked. Arin opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling, or maybe nothing at all.

“I noticed that your limbs are too long, they don’t seem like they belong to your body. I noticed that you hair is always in your face when you play video games but you never try to fix it. I noticed that your friends left you, I noticed you writing all the time, I noticed that you’re left handed, I noticed you love skittles, I noticed you have a scar on your right eyebrow, and I noticed a long time ago that you totally like me.” Arin said the last part quietly.

Dan smiled. “Forgive me, for I am not an observation expert myself, but I think I noticed you totally like me too?” He asked. 

Arin laughed, and kissed him.

When they eventually pulled away, Arin licked his lips.

“And I noticed you taste like skittles too.”


End file.
